By Mick Barclay and Vannessa Hearman
CANBERRA — Nico Warouw, the international representative of the Indonesian People's Democratic Party (PRD), urged CFMEU seminar participants to support the release of all political prisoners and the growing pro-democracy movement in Indonesia.
More than 1000 strikes were held in Java alone last year, despite workers not being permitted to join the union of their choice. The PRD, now the focus of the Suharto regime's political witch-hunt, has been active in organising this nascent working-class movement through its affiliated organisation the Indonesian Centre for Working Class Struggle (PPBI).
PPBI chairperson Dita Sari was arrested and charged with incitement to commit criminal acts on July 8, as were Mohamed Soleh and Hussein Pontoh from the PRD. Sari faces subversion charges with a maximum penalty of death.
Muchtar Pakpahan, chairperson of Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI), is also facing subversion charges for taking part in free speech forums outside the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters in Jakarta.
Supporting Warouw's appeal, the CFMEU seminar voted to call on the ACTU to recognise the independent trade unions, the SBSI and the PPBI, and to ban the use of Indonesian products in Australian workplaces.
It also demanded that the Indonesian government: recognise the right of workers to join the union of their choice; release all those detained after the July 27 military assault on the PDI headquarters; release Sari, Pontoh, Soleh, Budiman Sujatmiko, Petrus Hariyanto and other arrested members of the PRD; end its intervention in the PDI and recognise Megawati Sukarnoputri's leadership; end all repression against the PDI, PRD and other pro-democracy organisations; and permit freedom of assembly and association.
The seminar also called on the national CFMEU leadership to link up with the SBSI and PPBI around demands which advance the interests of working-class Indonesians, and to sponsor a team of members to investigate the Indonesian trade union movement and report back to CFMEU members.
[See page 19 for more on Indonesian political prisoners.]